My thanks

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your kind words and condolences about Tina's passing. It helped a lot. Let us all "hoist a peanut" - for Pastina and for good friends!

- M

Pastina Roborovski... May she rest in peace.

It is with the saddest of hearts that I announce the passing of Pastina Roborovski. Pastina died in her sleep, with her cheek pouches full, at age 1 year, 6 months. The world will mourn her passing.

A hamster of impeccable timing, Tina knew when to run on her wheel (just as I would turn in for the night, on most occasions), when to jazzercise (one of her favorite activities), and now -- when to pass on to her final reward. It touched me deeply to realize that she must have known the end was drawing near -- we had been planning our Great Migration to the west coast and had been caught up in a flurry of packing and preparation. Wee Tina, I now realize, was only humoring me; it hit me quite poignantly as I opened her suitcases and moving boxes... only to find them empty. She must have discreetly donated her belongings, feeling the closure of the circle of life within her. All that is left are a few choice articles: her photo album (the photos all of herself or, only sometimes, of my thumb), her diary (mostly doodles), and her stash of "kernels and seeds shaped like celebrities."

As is the custom (following her predecessor-hamster, Mr. President), Tina was buried in a cream cheese box, under an ivy-covered tree in Rock Creek Park during a private funeral attended by family. We all must struggle onward, despite our sadness -- for as it once was said, "the wheel stops for no hamster." Pastina wouldn't want it otherwise - Run on, friends, run on.

***

Pastina's Hamsterster page.

The Amazing Adventures of: Znail the Snail!

I was copied on an email thread today, and in one of the messages, James apologized for not posting some photos this morning. He said he had been "up late doing snail video stuff."

Me, in my brain: "What. Okeeeee... Maybe it is a euphemism for something. Or some tech speak. I will let this one go."

But then, a few hours later, I got this:



From James: Was up at my Grandmas in Upstate NY for the weekend. Znail showed up and wanted to go Hollywood. I said "nah nah, lets keep this indy." This is our low budget summer blockbuster action suspense thriller film! enjoy

Thank you, James! Thank you, Znail! You are both movie stars, I love you!
No, wait! - Movie Ztarz, that is! No, iz! (halp.)

***

I saw G-Force

It was awesome. Too bad those 3D glasses don't work for me, though. That - sigh - would have been amazing.

Ha... I sort of see it.... Yes. Tracy Morgan was this (bad ass) guinea pig. And it totally worked.

Guineas with gadgets.

Car chase. Sort of.



Underwater rodent spy maneuvers.

The looove interest. (With peanut.)



Token hamster.



A bug. (Provided critical reconnaissance.)

No shame.

(P.S. You can't see it, but I am wearing a hat with a guinea pig applique on it.)

Dinos and Coke

Ok. I have not been posting very much this month. You know how it is - life gets busy and the first thing to go is the blog updating. Anyway, I have been busy at work with... work (go figure), and have been busy at home with preparing for my move to California....

BUT....

I had to post this. Because it is about dinosaurs. And Pablo Escobar. I know, right?

Today, NPR had a story (here) about how the infamous Colombian drugpin's hacienda has apparently been turned into a theme park.

But! but! Wait. The important part of this is.... that, before the police shot him dead in 1993, Escobar had "stocked the ranch with life-size concrete dinosaurs and African big game." Whoooaahhh, for real? Because that is EXACTLY what I would do if I was an insanely rich, bad-ass Colombian drug lord.

Photo source: NPR

Photo source: BBC

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Photo from http://www.bluehillfarm.com/

Remember the Obamas' "date night" when they went to the Blue Hill restaurant in NYC? Yeahhh... I have not been there, but I have, in fact, been to its sister restaurant in Pocantico Hills, New York (about 30 miles north of NYC). It is located on a farm, and last weekend, I went back and took a "Livestock Tour." It was neat, and sometimes smelly.

They have a couple different kinds of chickens. All of the ones above are for nomming; there are other egg-layers somewhere else. It is cute. The egg-layers go inside a little house on wheels and get inside a little box and lay an egg in it. In the night, all the chickens file into the little house, someone closes up the door, and they go to sleep. In the morning, someone comes and opens the door and the chickens file back out. Bbbawk.

Here are some sows. Mmm... face bacon. (Face? What? Yes. Check out #9 here.)

There is a dog, too (she is under the little tree-bush, yonder) that takes care of the herd 24/7. There is one ram and he has his own place. These are all ewes and lambs. They walk around and chew grass and poop. (Er. I mean, they chew grass, period, and they poop, period. Not they chew both grass and poop. That would be gross.)

I have too much stuff

Hello there. I am moving very far away, and I have too much stuff.

I do not even know how I got some of this stuff. Please take it away. Comment or email me at megandmccabe@gmail.com if you would like to ask questions / reserve something / offer moral support for pack-rats.

Halp. ....Please.

(I have conveniently divided "Stuff" into categories. New things get added as the closet gets cleaner.)

FURNITURE(ish) ITEMS:

Shelve-y things / Folding bookcase

Quilt stand


chair. obviously.

KITCHEN STUFF:

(Not the wok, though. Gave that away already.)

HOUSEHOLD STUFF:

MEDIA (in re: Ice Age... don't judge.):

(Eleeza has reserved some of the books, btw)

RANDOM CLOTHING, ETC:

A throwback.... to May. ( Yes, that far back.)

Remember "The Selected Poems of Hamster"?

What?...No?

It's okay, just click here.

Anyway, this is the video companion. Get your hankies ready, friends. (P.S. -- You will need sound.)



Sigh. I heart Tic and Tac...

(ehh... Ok, I admit it. I cannot positively tell who is the "thin" one and who the "fat". There. I said it.)

Pasta pronto

This is for a friend who is moving into a new place on his own and anticipates living off, and i quote, "cereal, yogurt, apples, bananas, and lots of simple pasta," until he: a) learns to cook more stuff, b) acquires a personal chef, or c) throws in the towel and takes up with take-out.

Simple pasta, a la me (Flourish! ...Deep bow.) You'll need:

- thin spaghetti
- feta cheese and/or ricotta cheese
- olive oil
- two handfuls of fresh spinach
- 1 can of diced tomatoes (I used Hunt's diced tomatoes with oregano, garlic, and parsley)
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
- garlic powder, dried parsley, dried oregano

First, boil a pot of water and cook your pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, drizzle a little bit of olive oil in another pan and add the mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes on high, then turn the temperature down to medium-high and add the spinach. Add a generous amount of the parsley and garlic, and a little oregano or basil. Then, when the spinach is pretty wilted, add the whole can of tomatoes (juice and all) and simmer everything, uncovered, until the spaghetti is done.

Toss the spaghetti with a little bit of olive oil and then toss it with ricotta and/or feta. Toss everything with the tomato sauce mixture and, voila! NOM! :)

Abra-cadabra, yummy pasta...

now!!

(You can also add in other veggies like: zucchini, peppers, fresh tomatoes, um... hm, what else. Well, you get the point. I have to go to lunch now, bye.)